Hot or Not: Week 9 Championship Heat Check
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Hot or Not: Week 9 Championship Heat Check
Week 8 was noteworthy in the ongoing pursuit for College Football Playoff seeding. With only 2
ranked-on-ranked matchups, most hopefuls faced teams that were merely speedbumps on the road to the championship. Those speedbumps turned into massive potholes for both Oklahoma and North Carolina, the latter of those teams now pretty much out of the playoff race.
Regardless of who you play, every contest matters. Teams out of the playoff race will look to knock off conference rivals in an effort to ruin a hated foe’s season. Fratricide will happen across each conference over the next few weeks. Leading contenders will have to find ways to win tough games as most of the cupcake matchups are but a memory. And as each week passes, the favorites will find themselves in unexpected dogfights with a potential playoff berth on the line. Team depth will now have more to do with winning or losing than early in the season. So, let’s take a look at this week’s list:
Hot:
1) Florida State – Following a tougher-than-it-looked contest against Duke, Florida State traveled to
Wake Forest and ended this game before halftime. Jordan Travis continues to impress and make
big plays. The Seminole defense held Wake Forest to 210 total yards. Presupposing the outcome
of the next 4 games, the Seminoles won’t play another ranked team until the conference
championship game….if there are any ranked ACC teams left by that point. Up next: at Pitt
2) Georgia – Coming off a bye week, the Dawgs headed to Jacksonville for their annual hate-filled
tilt against Florida in The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party that can’t be called The World’s
Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party anymore. In their first game without Brock Bowers, the Dawgs
looked as explosive as ever in a 43-20 drubbing of the Gators. Carson Beck continues to get
better and look more comfortable even without his main security blanket. The Dawgs were
buoyed by Ladd McConkey’s best game so far this season, and showed points and yards will still
come to this offense regardless of whether #19 is on the field or not. Georgia’s defense held
Florida to under 200 total yards until the fourth quarter in a game that stopped being a game
early in the second quarter. The schedule gets tougher from here as #12 Missouri comes to
town. Up next: Missouri
3) Oregon – Beating Utah is never easy. Beating them on the road is even tougher. And that’s
exactly what Oregon did last weekend. Ok, “beating” is a misnomer…the Ducks thumped the
Utes while fellow PAC 12 leader Washington struggled yet again. Oregon has struggled with
Utah in the past and won for the first time in Salt Lake City since 2016. Bo Nix continues to play
well as he completed 77% of his passes, the eighth consecutive game where he’s completed at
least 70% of his passes. Up next: Cal
Simmering:
1) Ohio State – This is a week-to-week list, and after beating Penn State the Buckeyes belonged in
the top tier. A tougher than expected game against Wisconsin, where OSU quarterback Kyle
McCord committed three turnovers, drops the Buckeyes down a little. OSU’s defense has been
quite a revelation this season as compared to seasons past. Holding PSU to 12 points and
Wisconsin to 10 is a pretty big deal. Offensively they are doing just enough to win and that’s all
that counts….right now. At some point, though, this offense will have to win a game. Can they?
Akin to Florida State, the Buckeyes won’t face a ranked opponent until their last regular season
game. Up next: at Rutgers
2) Michigan – Jim Harbaugh’s team just continues to take care of business on the field. Off the
field, the Wolverines are a mess. An advanced in-person scouting effort has seen charges of
cheating levied against Harbaugh’s program (again). While the team is good, and probably
playoff worthy, when will the off-the-field drama create enough angst and distraction to cost
Michigan? They still must play at Penn State but get Ohio State at home. Up next: Purdue
3) Washington – An ugly home win against Arizona State followed by an ugly road win against
Stanford will get you dropped from the “Hot” category. Frankly, the Huskies were fortunate to
win the last two games. Great teams must win ugly sometimes, and the Huskies did just that.
What’s concerning is this was another tight game entering the 4 th quarter against an
overmatched opponent. I guess we really do live in a “what have you done for me lately” world.
Thank you, Miss Janet Jackson. The Huskies now will take on the nation’s biggest championship
pretender on the road. Could be a lot of points….Up next: at USC
4) Texas – The Longhorns took care of business against the always tough BYU Cougars. Without
starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, Texas held serve to move to 7-1. Of note, though, is Texas’
continued red zone offense struggles. Texas only scored on 2 of 5 trips inside the red zone, twice
being stopped inside the 5-yard line. Up next: Kansas State
5) Alabama – The Tide had a bye week where they maybe worked on their short and intermediate
passing game, which is just bad. But, according to the Bama faithful, Nick Saban has been pretty
upbeat during the bye week before facing LSU in Tuscaloosa. I don’t know what that means. And
truly, neither do Bama fans. Can the Tide offense score enough to keep pressure on the LSU
offense? We know LSU doesn’t like to play defense, and Alabama doesn’t like to score in droves.
Up next: LSU
6) Ole Miss – The Rebels stay here after a drubbing of Vanderbilt, but then again pretty much
everyone drubs Vandy. Ole Miss built a 26-0 halftime lead and coasted from there. Quinshon
Judkins ran for 124 and scored twice while Jaxson Dart continues to carve up teams not named
Alabama. They host the Aggies before a trip to Athens. Will the Lane Train get caught looking
ahead? Up next: Texas A&M
Ice Cold:
1) Oklahoma – After surviving against UCF, the clock struck midnight for the Sooners in Lawrence.
Kansas isn’t a bad team, but they aren’t a team that a national title contender should lose to.
And yet again the Sooner defense gave up over 400 yards, made worse by the fact that Kansas
was playing without their starting quarterback. Oklahoma still controls their own destiny but
doesn’t play anyone who can help them move the needle before the conference championship
game. Up next: at Kansas
2) USC – Is it just me, or do the Trojans just become more unlikeable every week? That whole
“defense is optional” strategy so frequently employed by Lincoln Riley lead to another defeat at
the hands of Utah (that’s 3 in a row, if I’m not mistaken) which completely removed the Trojans
from any playoff discussion. And then the Trojans had to hang on for a 1-point win over the
juggernaut Cal Bears. This would be sad if it weren’t so comical. Enjoy those two beach houses,
Lincoln.